Professional and amateur installers of floor, wall and ceiling coverings that include ceramic tile, marble, granite, slate and other material commonly use spacers to create an equal distance between adjacent tiles. They also use an assortment of devices to level the tiles, which when leveled correctly will produce an even surface without lips across the entire surface area.
Laying or installing tile is a skilled craft. Professional and amateur tile installers can find the process of spacing and leveling tiles difficult and time consuming. And because of gravity, installing tiles on ceilings can be even more complex and dangerous for both professional and amateur installers. Without the proper tools and skill set, installation results can be inconsistent, unpredictable and non-repeatable. These are some of the reasons that installers do not commonly install tiles on ceilings, particularly above showers and bathtubs.
Leveling, which is the art of installing tiles so the tiles are flush with all adjacent tiles, is one of the most difficult aspect of installing tiles. Spacing, which is the process of ensuring that each tile has the same distance between each adjacent tile, is easy, even for amateurs. There are many different types and sizes of spacers on the market to choose from. The cross spacer and variations thereof, is the most commonly used to create an equal distance between adjacent tiles during the installation process. An installer can easily obtain spacers of almost any thickness that would provide the spacing that he/she would want between adjacent tiles. A known limitation of cross spacers is that their design, similar to a “+” makes them useful primarily on floors and walls. By taping each in place, the spacer could be used to space tiles on a ceiling. However, without a bracing device that retains the newly placed tiles in place the tiles will pull away from the ceiling and fall if an installer attempted to use a cross spacer for anything other than a spacing device on ceiling tile installations. The tiles will pull away from the ceiling because most commonly used adhesives are not strong enough to hold tiles securely in place until the adhesive dries. Although this problem has existed for many years, the market is absent a commercially viable solution that keeps spacers and tiles from falling when installing tiles on ceilings.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,139,119 to Heidenreich (1915) is a toy top that could be useful as a crude form of a spacer. But the cost to use this toy as a spacer would be prohibitive and impractical. It comprises no features that would enable it be used as a tile spacer and as a bracing device.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,031,684 to Berger (1936), the cross spacer, is the most prevalent spacer type in use today. However, its primary usefulness is that of providing even spacing between tiles on floors, walls and tabletops and the like. It has no design features that would enable it to be used as a ceiling tile spacing and bracing device.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,797,495 to Walston (1957), a Glass Building Block Aligner could not possibly be used as a spacer or a bracer when installing ceiling tile in that it is not structurally capable of doing so. It aligns glass blocks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,125 to Gussler Jr. (1983) discloses a system for aligning uneven thickness panel sections of floors, walls, ceilings and flat surfaces. Gussler's invention enables even alignment of uneven panel members using the floor as base support. The invention requires insertion of the device underneath material which must be in direct contact with panel members to create lift and alignment. The device must be set in a bonding compound until it has dried. This system would not be useful for installing ceramic tile, marble tile, granite tile and other hard material on a ceiling. This system has no design features that would prevent the ceiling tile from falling to the floor.
Another invention, U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,142 to Rieck (1990), discloses a deck spacing tool that appears to comprise a vertically extending blade with a pair of horizontally extending arms. It provides spacing during the installation of deck boards. This tool could not possibly be used to install ceiling tiles in that there is no apparatus to prevent the tiles from falling to the floor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,534 to Tayshanjian (1994) is a derivative of the Berger type spacer of 1936 that is primarily used on floor surfaces or vertical walls. The ordinary purpose of this embodiment is that of a spacer. The spacer has no design features that hold tile in place during a ceiling tile installation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,745 to Kawai (1996), floor panel support leg and double floor, apparently is useful for installing floors. There is no practical use of this invention to install ceiling tile in that it neither provides spacing nor an apparatus that would prevent a ceiling tile from falling before the adhesive dries.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,799 to Kowalski (1997), is a device and process for mounting tiles of varying thickness is an embodiment of the 1936 Berger spacer. This embodiment could not be used when installing ceiling tile in that it has no apparatus to prevent the tile from falling to the floor.
U.S. Pat. No. 0,466,380 to Dickson (2002) is an ornamental design for a ceramic wall and floor tile laying guide that has no practical application for the installation of ceiling tile. Dickson's invention has no features that would space or brace ceiling tiles and prevent the tiles from falling to the floor.
Dual spacing width tile spacers, U.S. patent publication 2004/0060184 to Shilo (2004), U.S. patent publication 2004/0250435 to Fiore (2004), U.S. Pat. No. 7,257,926 to Kirby (2007), U.S. patent publication 2007/0227025 to Venture (2007), adequately spaces tiles on walls, floors and tabletops, but do not have design features to support the installation of ceiling tile and prevent the tiles from falling to the floor.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,946,093 to Sturino (2008) spaces tiles and has an apparatus that adjusts the height of tiles. Sturine's invention is useful for laying tiles on floors, walls and tabletops, as does U.S. Pat. No. 7,536,802 to Tavy (2009); neither has design features to support the installation of ceiling tile and prevent the tiles from falling to the floor.
Similar inventions, U.S. Pat. No. 7,621,100 to Kufner (2009) adequately spaces and levels tiles, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,650,700 to Blankenship (2010), enables the installation of tiles on floors, walls and tabletops, but neither have features that would prevent tiles from falling to the floor when installing tiles on a ceiling.
Installers have in the past used crude processes to painstakingly secure tiles to ceilings. For example, after an installer attaches a bonding substrate to a ceiling to which adhesives or other bonding substances will adhere to, the subsequent process becomes more difficult. Next, installers apply their desired adhesive to a back surface of tile and while holding tile in one hand with the adhesive facing upward, push the tile onto the bonding substrate, twist and slide slightly into place to create a bond and suction. This crude process theoretically holds tiles in place until the adhesive has dried. This process is performed repeatedly until the entire surface area has been covered. However, many of the tiles will pull away from the ceiling because the adhesive is the only element keeping the tiles to the ceiling. Therefore, the use of a spacer becomes impractical, and even spacing between adjacent tiles becomes a problem. It is possible to tape a spacer between each tile, but that process is impractical and very time consuming. Another problem with this crude process is that there is no reasonably simple way to level the tiles. This method creates additional work for the installer, requires more time and increases the level of difficulty to complete the job. The results of using this method are inconsistent, unpredictable and hazardous. The danger is that one or more tiles could suddenly fall from the ceiling. The stickiness of the adhesive used and the force of suction are the only elements holding the tiles to the ceiling. As a result it becomes difficult for an installer utilizing this method to achieve consistently even spacing between adjacent tiles and to prevent lip-outs. There does not appear to be prior art devices that simultaneously spaces and braces tiles during installation on a ceiling.
Another crude method of installing tiles on a ceiling include the application of an adhesive to the back of tiles, pushing them to the bonding surface, aligning the tiles and then placing a pole or long stick underneath each tile to hold the tiles in place until the adhesive dries. While this method can hold the tiles in place and prevent them from falling, the inherent problem with this method is that the results will be inconsistent. The added cost of acquiring poles, sticks or other long straight objects makes this method expensive and very time consuming. In addition, leveling the tiles with equal spacing between adjacent tiles will be difficult and impractical.
This embodiment solves a recurring installation problem that previously had not been solved. This embodiment solves the problem by enabling installers to easily install tiles on ceilings that securely hold, spaces and levels tiles. It comprises a simple, very inexpensive, reusable device that improves consistency, saves time and reduces the cost of installing tiles on ceilings. It can also be used for tile installations on floors and walls as well. Thus, this embodiment will produce predictable and repeatable results.